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What do you call yourself, if any?
I got interested in transhumanism about the same time I started questioning if I really had to be a boy, guy, man, it has always been there in the back of my mind all through my transition.
Now, I know 16 glass-encapsulated chip-implants maybe are not that much if one compares to things to come, but when do one actually crosses the "barrier" between a natural, non-augmented homo-sapiens, to something "more"?
Now, gender, as well as any identity is fluid, a spectrum and not something that really anyone have the exact same concept of, but where is the limit?
In the future, maybe most people would have some kind of implant, does that mean they are all cyborgs? What is a cyborg?
I like freedom, at the same time I realize that it's all somewhat subjective so I try not to make claims I'm not sure I can really live up to. But does it really matter in the end? Are we all just really individuals, a representation of just yourself and not what other are or may become?
I want to be understood, most importantly for what I'm NOT, just so people don't think of me as a innocent being.
At the same time, my body mines, all mine, no matter if the TERF's, transmedicalists, normies, PC-people think I'm using a movement for my own "winning", I know my "rights".
Are you a grinder?
Are you a transhumanist?
Are you a biohacker?
Are you a guy/gal/person with the keys to the future?
Or are you just "you"?
Comments
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Im me
22J
Non BinaryI have installed some magnets by my self - that changed nothing on my identity.
Its like a Piercing for me.
When i pierced my self that also didn't made me being a Cyborg/whatever.
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33/He/It
I'm incredibly late to this topic, but I'm also quite new to the community, so I think I get a pass on that.
My entire life I wanted to exit the Human race. I like some Humans, but most of them suck. I had long ago told myself "Yea, but there's not a door on this species, you were born a Human, you will die a Human." and was fully content with that.
Earlier this year while falling down a youtube rabbit hole and found out about grinders. I immediately recognized it for the door it was, and I stepped through.
Cyborg - a fictional or hypothetical person whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body.
Everyone with implants doesn't need to identify as a cyborg. That probably means nothing to most people.
I am a cyborg. So far I am the least impressive cyborg you could hope to meet, the only new ability I have is to communicate with NFC readers, but I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I want a magnet to give myself a new sense. I want to build my own implant at some point. I want to design a new implant nobody has thought of yet. I want to give someone else (willing) an implant and make a whole new cyborg myself.
Like I said I'm very new to all of this, but I love this shit, and am so excited to meet all of you.
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That's funny. It's something I've been thinking about lately too. So our lab is in So Cal right? And tons of cyberpunk media chooses it as a setting.. furthermore.. I make cyborgs for a living damn it. I'm cyberpunk as fuck. So, I got thinking.. what would that look like right?
I watched all the old classics like Ghost in the Machine. Went to Neotropolis and Defcon and studied and asked the people..
My conclusion is lackluster at best. I find next to no parrellels in style, music preferences, hairstyles, or income. There are no brands that stand out. People use a variety of OS and browsers and while sure.. most of the tech folk have evolutionarily converged into using similar stuff.. no one cares or gives shit to the ludite in the corner using windows 95.
There are a ton of similarities ive found, but none are really easily identifiable markers of identity or belonging.
So the terms you used:
Are you a grinder?
Are you a transhumanist?
Are you a biohacker?
Are you a guy/gal/person with the keys to the future?Well, I'd say Grinder is the most succinct term for what I specialize in. But, what if I work out and do breathing exercises too? I mean, do I belong to both Grinder and Biohacker now? More importantly, are any of these terms mutually exclusive?
I mean, the reddit biohack group is full of people talking about the effects of sunlight on your aura.. And to be honest, there have a been a lot of Grinders I know who have a bad taste in their mouth about transhumanist. People get offended when you apply the science you know to question the practice of freezing people in a way that damages the very organs you're attempting to save. It feels almost like faith to me in a way..The most telling thing to me was that when Id ask a Grinder or Biohacker if they could think of any shared styles/characteristics/preferences.. each seemed almost offended. Ill admit, I do like the sense of community and belonging that I get from the Biohack folk. But, perhaps the vaguesness of belonging is part of what fosters the extreme inclusiveness. And even if there was some nasty competing biohacker.alt or something, I wouldn't feel like nationalism towards this forum or anything.
I'm not even sure that the keys to the future thing applies to most Grinders honestly. Some of these bastards are totally striving for world domination and that doesn't take away their biohackerness even if we exclude them from our friend circle. I mean, one thing that seems to be a commonality is liberalness. If some dude in his garage made a virus to kill all the non-white folk using crispr and he flew a nazi flag.. would he not be a biohacker? I certainly wouldn't socialize with him.. but I mean, do these terms have any greater value then what the second poster states.. it's just a piercing to me. It isn't part of my identity.
I believe in what we're doing. I really do believe we can change the world and make it better. But, that isn't what makes me a Grinder. Some of the most hardcore biohackers I know have zero implants. I know plenty of tourists with 5.